


The Problems With the World

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, abandoned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-13 05:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1213702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ABANDONED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Egbert and Lalonde Meet

It was a brisk day; the chill of the wind blew against a man’s face. This man looked to be around his 20’s. He had charcoal black hair, olive skin, and deep blue eyes, along with a pair of rectangular glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His name was John Egbert. John pushed his scarf up to his nose so that the wind would not nip at it, today was a normal today, he was a normal person, with a normal job, but he had abnormal talents that he dare not show others.

* * *

 

           Her name was Rose Lalonde; she had ivory hair, pale skin, and an abnormal color of eyes, purple. She lived alone in her apartment room, whispers in her mind tried pushing through every day for her, it was a struggle. Some weeks she would be fine. Others she would be vomiting black goop, or tentacles; thankfully for her it was not one of those weeks. A chill ran down her spine as she read under the candlelight, her goal was to look for a cure. She needed more books, so she made a decision in her mind to go take a visit to the library. She stood from her seat and grabbed a jacket and her mother’s old pink scarf. Rose walked out the door and made sure to lock it, she quietly walked down the hall and to the elevator. Down she went and out, it had been so long since she had seen the light of day. Her eyes took some time before they adjusted, but while she stood out in the middle of a sidewalk a boy not too younger than herself bumped into her and knocked her down onto the ground.

           “Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” he said holding out his hand as a gesture to help her up, she took it and used him to pull herself up. “Oh geez! You’re hands are _ice cold_! Here, you can take my gloves,” she was about to tell the man ‘no’ but he already took off his gloves to hand them to her.

“No, please sir, I don’t need your gloves. Thank you for your kindness anyways.”

He shoved them into her hands, “no, no! I insist! It’s the best I can do! I’m John by the way, John Egbert.”

Rose hesitates to tell the man, John, her name, “…Rose Lalonde.”

John smiles brightly, “nice to meet you! Sorry it had to be under these circumstances. I like your scarf by the way!” 

She smiles to herself then thanks him, “thank you, it was my mother’s …Sorry, but I must be going now. I have important business to attend to.” She stepped past him and started walking to the library.

“Hey wait up!” John calls out as he starts into a jog after her; she raised a brow _why should anyone want to affiliate with me?_   She thought. “What is it now?”

“Well first of all, you’re going to need my address if I ever want my gloves back, _and_ it is very rude to just walk off right after you just met someone, you should try to talk to them more!”

Rose frowns, “please forgive me, I am rusty with my social life. I don’t leave my apartment very often due to an… illness.” She didn’t know why she was telling this man that she had just met merely seconds ago this. He seemed kind nonetheless.

“Aw, well that sucks. How do you work then?” He seemed to be genuinely sorry for her, she didn’t let her guard down still, “my mother owns a laboratory so she pays for me.”

John nods, “that’s cool, my sister used to have a grandpa that was a multimillionaire! I am sometimes very jealous of her success.” Rose continues walking as she listens to his blabbering about his life, and how his father got killed in a car crash, and his sister, Jade as he corrects, has some large job with something about physics. 

            They both walk up to the library, “so… I guess this is where we part?” John asks as he stares at the building.

Rose nods, “yes, I am sorry but I prefer finding the answers I am looking for alone.”

“Ah… ok, that’s perfectly fine,” he stops to think for a little then he pulls out a notepad and a pen.

He scribbles down something then tears out the page and hands it to her, “what’s this?” She raises a brow at him as she looks at the paper.

“It’s my number, in case you want to talk to someone,” he then looks down at his wristwatch, “crap, I gotta get going. I’m going to be late for work. Talk to you later, Rose!” He then turns and runs down the sidewalk as fast as he could, it seemed as if he was the wind. Rose gave a small wave and stood there for a little longer before she folded the paper and put it into her jacket pocket.

* * *

           The silence of the library was disrupted by an alarm on a phone. The phone was Rose’s, it was a text, she picked it up to read what it said, and turned it to vibrate.  
’yo, rose. you there? or are you pukin up tentacles or some shit.’  
’Yes I am here David.’  
’david… ok somethings up, spill the beans’  
’Nothing is ‘up,’ I am just at the library.’  
’did you meet someone?’  
’dont  text back means no’  
’That is none of your concern. And besides, I don’t think that he would try talking to me again anyways.’  
’so you did meet someone’  
’whats his name’  
’Why is this so important to you?’  
’you barley leave your crappy apartment and you dont even talk to anyone besides me’  
’…His name is John. And I only consider him as an acquaintance than anything.’  
’wait’  
’What is it?’  
’i know a john, whats his last name’  
’Egbert.’  
’yep thats him’  
’He gave me his number.’  
’cool’  
           Those were the last texts she received for a while. She turned to the next page in the crusty old book and continued to read. Nothing, that was it, she couldn’t find anything about her sickness. She sighed, and cursed under her breath as she closed it, she stood and put it back in the spot it was at and strutted out of the library. She made her way back to her apartment. As she was walking down the hall a sudden feeling of uneasiness settled in, _not now. I don’t have time for this. **HELLO LALONDE.** No, please, get out of my mind. _Her hands started to shake and her stomach started to churn, she picked up her pace to her apartment room and pulled out the keys. Shakily, she put it into the keyhole and turned, the door opened and she closed it quickly. Rose rushed to her restroom, black liquid spewed from her mouth and into the toilet, her skin became cold and her skin was turning a shade of gray. When she finished vomiting, she sat down on the floor of the bathroom. Her eyes watered and tears started to flow down her cheeks. She was doing well repressing the beasts of darkness, it was hard; it was hard and nobody understood. Rose had noticed she still had John’s gloves on her hands, she pulled them off slowly and looked closely at her fingers, nothing had changed. _That’s abnormal,_ she thought, _normally they are dark gray by now._ She put the gloves aside and stood up to clean her mouth out and wash her face.

* * *

 

           John had returned from his meeting at his work, he unlocked the door to his father’s old house and stepped inside. He sat down on his couch, only now had he noticed that he didn’t have his gloves. _Riiight, I left them with the Rose girl._ He pulled out his phone from his pocket: “wait… I don’t have her number. She has mine.” He heard a ping from his phone; it was a text message from an unknown caller ID, obviously he didn’t have the number in his contacts.  
’Hello. This is John, I presume.’  
They knew his name, it must be Rose.  
’you presume correctly!’  
’That’s good. I have your gloves, I’m guessing you want them back.’  
’yeah… they’re my only gloves, but then again i can always buy new ones!’  
’They are too big for my small hands, thank you anyways.’  
’did you find what you were looking for?’  
’Sadly no. I was going to continue my search elsewhere, perhaps on the internet.’  
’well if you need help you can always ask me!’  
’Thank you for your offer.’

* * *

 

’harley guess what’  
’did you finally get bro to bring you to disney land?’  
’no, i wish though’  
’then what?’  
’lalonde met egbert without our help’  
’:o’  
’go ahead and :o you want’  
’my only question is how!!’  
’i dunno’  
’she didnt give me much detail’  
’ill talk to john later, maybe he can tell me!!’  
’alright sweet’  
’i got to go! bye coolkid!’  
’<3’  
’see ya har’  
’,3’  
’crap wait’  
’<3’  
’there’

* * *

 That night Rose slept uneasy. She had dreams of horror, and terror.


	2. The Café

It was around 10:30 PM that John’s alarm went off, he waved his hand towards it and it fell off the desk and stopped beeping. He turned back over and began to drift back to sleep. When he was nearly asleep his door slammed open, “rise and shine sleepy head!”

It was Jade, she was at his house for a week to visit; she stormed into his room and opened the blinds on his window. John in return turned over and put his pillow over his head.

“Do I have to,” he groaned, “it’s a Saturday, and that means I have the right to sleep in!”

“John, you do know that it is going to be my last day here before I go back to college!” She pulled the pillow off of his head then smacked him with it, “So are we going to go meet Dave at Starbucks or what?”

He huffed and pulled his blankets over his head, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m sleeping in.”

Jade smiled slyly, “fine, I guess Dave and I are only forced to have fun with his stepsister.”

“Stepsister?” He peeked out from under the blankets and quirked a brow.

“Yes! Her name is Rose, I believe you met her yesterday?”

John stared at her puzzled and pushed the heavy blankets off himself, “how did you know that?”

“Well, Rose told Dave, then Dave told me, so are you coming or are you going to lay around all day?”

He sighs in frustration and sits up, “fine! I’m getting up. Geez, you could have woken me up better than this though.”

“Did you want me to use a blow horn?”

“No, that would be worse. You remember what happened last time!” He stood up and stretched his muscles and grabbed some clothes. “Of course I do! How could I forget? That was when you foun-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, you don’t have to repeat the story. I remember clearly. Now out of my room so I can get changed.” Jade nods and heads out the door so he could get some privacy in changing, it’s not like he was only wearing boxers when he sleeps, no, not at all.

After John got dressed and ready he walked into the living room to see Jade on her computer thing, he always forgot what it was called, something to do with holograms. "You talking to your boyfriend?"  He teased, Jade in return pushed his face away and turned off her computer, "if you want me to say 'he's not my boyfriend!' Then it's not going to happen."

He laughed, "I know, I know, alright, let's go!"

And with that, they left to a wonderful coffee shop called "Starbucks."

* * *

 

"And remember that time when you got your hood stuck in the tree and you couldn't get down? So we called the firemen and you started meowing like a cat?" John laughed.

"Of course I do, I was the one who thought of the whole plan anyways. Just had to make it seem believable," Dave smirked at that memory and took a sip of his coffee.

Jade then piped up, "where's Rose? I thought she said she was coming." Dave shrugged, "she can't be very reliable, you know that Harley."

"Why can't she?" John questioned, he hadn't known Rose very long after all.

"Sorry bro, can't tell you that. She keeps it to herself most of the time," His expression returned back to his straight face cool kid look. Just then the door swung open to the store, cold air blew through it as the person walked it. That person was Rose, she walked over to the group's table and sat down next to John.

"I apologize for being late... Things showed up that I had to take care of," she then pulled some gloves out of her purse and handed them to John, "I believe these belong to you. Thank you, again."

John shook his head snapping out of his daze and realized he had been staring at her, "sorry, were you talking to me? I mean, yeah, no problem." He took them from her and set them aside on the table. Jade snickered, but Dave seemed too absorbed in his coffee to notice anything.

"Did I miss any important discussions?" She inquired the others.

"Nah, not much, Egbert here was just talking about the time when I got myself stuck in a tree," Dave spoke up, "and then I started crying like a kitten that was missin' its momma."

Rose smiled faintly, "ah yes, I remember you telling me about that. I wish I could have been there to see it."

"So, where do you come from?" John asked.

"New York, my mother used to work with Jade's grandfather."

"Really? Wow... I wonder why a specific Harley didn't tell me any of this stuff," he glared at Jade.

"What? I thought it was unimportant!" Jade looked back over to John and Rose from her discussion with Dave.

"Uhuh, sure you did." More glaring.

"Whatever," she turned her attention back to Dave's ridiculous ranting and smiled.

John sat there a while not knowing what to say at the moment.

"What are your-," and "what do you-" both were said by John and Rose at the same time.

"Oh, heh, you go first," John said politely.

"No, you can."

"No! I insist you go first!"

Rose sighs, "fine, I was going to say 'what are your hobbies?'"

He laughed

"What? What did I say in order for you to laugh?"

"It's funny because I was going to say almost the same exact thing!"

She smiled, "yes, I do see how that would be funny."

"Well, I play piano, and I watch movies. Are watching movies even a hobby?"

"Yes, it can be considered a hobby. I play violin, and write from time to time, even maybe a little drawing."

John smiled and took a sip of his drink, "ow! Hot! The coffee I mean, the coffee is hot. Heh. And that's really cool! Who knows, maybe some day we can have a duet!"

"Yes, I would love that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, may be a little short. My first writing for this chapter was lost when my computer overheated and I lost everything. Couldn't recover it! Stayed up all night writing this. Literally.


	3. A Duet of  Composers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will John ever find out about Rose's illness? Will Rose find out about John's secret?

“John, you’re tempo is too fast for me to play along with you.”

“Sorry, this is my first time having a duet,” the pianist sighed in frustration and readjusted his position.

“You look tense, you need to let your shoulders relax,” the violinist pointed out as she put her violin back into position.

“Sorry, I’ll try to relax, where were we again?”

“I’ll lead this time,” she started to move her arm in motion, **_WHAT A NICE BOY. AND HOW MUCH FUN YOU ARE HAVING. MAYBE WE CAN HAVE SOME FUN TOO IF YOU JUST LET US-_**

_Stop. Please, just leave me alone for at least a week. Leave me at peace._

**_POOR LALONDE. POOR, POOR, ROSE. WE CAN HELP YOU, THEN YOU WOULDN’T BE PITIED BY YOUR FRIENDS._ **

_I don’t need your help, and they do not pity me._

John played along; the air was filled with a symphony, the sound of a piano and a violin made that symphony. The composers were in sync, as if they were the moon and the sun, the day and night, they moved in the order that was needed for the other to get it right.

The night abruptly stopped, “may I please use your restroom?”

John was startled by the abrupt stop, “wha- I mean, yeah, it’s up stairs, turn to the right.”

She nodded and set her violin down on the couch gently and rushed upstairs. The blackness had started boiling in her stomach, her hands started trembling and there seemed to be an ominous glow on her skin. The glow seemed to be like tentacles, barbed tentacles to be precise, for it plucked at her skin and stung it. She opened the lid to the toilet and let the thick oily goo come out of her mouth. There was a knock at the door, “you ok in there?”

“Y-yes I’m,” she coughed, “I’m perfectly fine.” She could practically hear him biting his bottom lip, “it doesn’t sound like it. Can I come in?”

Rose shakily grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped her mouth with it, she then threw it into the toilet, “n-no. Y-you won’t like me anymore.”

“I’m coming in,” thankfully for him she had forgotten to lock the door, “oh my god!”

“I-I’m sorry, please, just, run before I h-hurt you. I’m a monster.” Her voice seemed garbled but he was still able to understand what she was saying. Without thinking he ran up to her and hugged her.

“Please, John let go, I do not want to harm you!”

“Shhh, listen to me, you aren’t going to hurt me, I know that as a 100 percent fact. Now, we are going to sit in the living room, and you’re going to tell me what’s up. Rose nodded slowly and he led her to the living room and sat on the couch, “now. Is this the illness you were talking about?”

She nodded, her skin tone seemed to lighten up a little, but the dark tentacles still flickered around her. “Ever since I was young, there were these voices in the back of my head. At first I couldn’t figure out what they were saying, but as I got older I started to understand and my… condition worsened. So I spent most of my life traveling and trying to find the cure...” Some wet droplets fell from her eyes, she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt sniffled a little.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I was afraid they would think I was some freak and they would try to send me to a hospital and make me take medications for schizophrenia.”

John paused a while before saying anything else, “… can I tell you something? But you must not under any circumstances tell anyone.” Rose nodded, secret for secret, right?

“I um… I have these… powers, which let me control wind. I mean, sort of. Not completely though.”

Rose raised her eyebrows, “really? And here I thought you were the normal one out of us all.” The tentacles had also died down now and it was starting to clear up.

He laughed, “I thought I was too! It was when Jade woke me up with a blow horn, I freaked out so much that I blew out the windows and literally flew out of bed!”

She snicker, “that must have been a sight to behold.”

“It was.” Rose looked up at the clock, “it was nice being here, John, but I must go now, sorry I was here for so short." She gathered her items and put her violin back in its case, she grabbed her coat off of the coat rack and put it on, along with her scarf.

”It’s fine, and… take care, alright? If you need someone to talk to I’m always free… Except on the week days.” He gave her a reassuring smile and waved her goodbye. Rose opened the door and left. John sighed and let his upper torso fall onto the rest of the couch, Jade was gone, Dave was with her, Rose had just left. Maybe he should have gone to college for a few more years himself. He grabbed the remote off the armrest of the couch and powered on the television, he flipped through a few channels before deciding which channel he would stay on. After a few minutes he fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

After an hour or so he woke up to his phone going off, Jade was calling him, of course. He picked it up and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"John! Hi! How was your duet date with Rose?"

He rubbed his eyes and yawned trying to recollect himself from the nap, "date? What date? Wait... That wasn't a date!"

"Thats not what I meant numbnuts! I meant like play dates, you know?"

"Oh... Heheh, it knew what you meant."

"Sure you did, anyways, you still need to answer my question!"

"It was ok. I kind of messed up then stuff happened."

_"Stuff."_

"Yes _stuff."_

"Alright, whatever you say, I have to go now! I'll miss you, bye!" And with that she ended the call.

* * *

 

 

Rose had returned home, she felt faint and exhausted, she needed to rest. She was surprised at how soon she became calm and the voices were repressed back into the dark recesses of her mind. She took off her coat and scarf and sat at her desk, she pulled out a journal and a pen and started to write. She scribbled down words and of the events that happened that day, Rose does this whenever the Horrorterrors, as she dubbed them, were active in her mind. After a few minutes of writing she couldn't keep her eyelids open much longer. So she rested her head on the table and fell fast asleep. She had pleasant dreams for the first time in a long time. There were no disruptions for her, unlike John, so she slept for hours upon hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will make up for the lack of longness in the next chapter.


	4. What are Trolls?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group has been getting strange texts from people they don't know. It seems that the people who texted them do know them, will the group of four freaks find out who those people are?

_11:16 AM. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. 11:17 PM._

   The internal clock that Dave had in his mind ticked away. On and on and on it went, he heard the gears turn and constantly knew what time it was. If you didn’t know what time it was in a different part of the world, he’d be the guy you would talk to. Wanted to know when your dog passed away? Ask him. How about when your dog will pass? Yep, he’d know. He’d always know. Some would go mad with this “gift” and possibly be “put out of their misery.” Dave has heard of things, people talking behind his back, whispering.

   _Joke’s on them,_ he thought, _I know when they’re going to die._ Thankfully for him, he didn’t have to go through it alone. Jade was with him, she had problems too, two big problems. Those problems were two big, white, fluffy, ears. She always told the others it was from accident she didn’t want to talk about. That accident had left her an orphan, her grandfather, the one who was her legal guardian had died in “The Accident.” Only Dave knows what really happened though, she didn’t want to tell John because she was afraid she’d freak him out. Everyday ever since she hid her ears away in any way possible, that included dyeing them black to blend with her hair, always wearing a beanie, wearing a hoodie to make them look like fake dog ears.

   Her three friends didn’t mind though. Together they were a group of four freaks, each having odd and unnatural things about them that didn’t belong in this world. They all had strange dreams, Dave would see himself die many times, but in a world that was not their own, he had different clothes on each time. Jade would dream of being raised by an omnipotent dog, and alien Trolls that talked to them and who she had grown to know and love (some of them,) and of a moon called Prospit that floated in orbit just above a place called Skaia. John would dream of a meteor showing up and destroying his home, but not before he was transported to a different world and became a god, he had dreams where he got stabbed by an omnipotent devilbeast along with his father. Rose would dream of the same scenario over and over, she had gray skin, black tentacles flickered around her, and she stood over the bodies of two people. One was her mother, the other she had no idea who. And then she saw a boy get killed in front of her, which enraged her and she didn’t even know him.

   They were all dreams, but known of them knew if they were just simple dreams. Some nights they seemed so real. They all wondered why they would at times dream of each other, they'd talk to each other about it and think that sometimes it was real. Maybe they were crazy, maybe they were delusional. They couldn’t tell most of the time.

 

* * *

 

Then one day.

 

* * *

 

**‘HEY.’**

Jade looked at her phone, someone was texting her. No name address, but they typed in uppercase.

**‘who are you?’**

**‘OH PLEASE, COME ON JADE’**

**‘IT’S ME KARKAT’**

**‘YOU KNOW, KARKAT VANTAS’**

**‘THE GUY WHO SAVED YOUR GRIMBARK BUTT’**

She furrowed her brows, Karkat? That’s an odd name.

**‘who?’**

**‘OK, VERY FUNNY, YOU GOT ME THIS TIME.’**

**‘WAS IT EGBERT?’**

**‘i really have no idea who you are, and how did you know my name?’**

**‘REMEMBER I HELPED YOU THROUGH YOUR SBURB SESSION’**

**‘THEN THINGS WENT DOWN AND WE HAD TO GO TO SOME OTHER SESSION’**

**‘AND THEN WE WON’**

**‘AND NOW I’M STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS GOD FORSAKEN LAND CALLED AMERICA AS A CRAPPY HUMAN’**

**‘???’**

**‘YOU KNOW, YOU BECAME A SPACE WITCH’**

**‘ >:O’ **

**‘that was very rude of you!!’**

**‘ok who are you really buster?’**

**‘OH MY GODS’**

**‘LOOK, ITS ME KARKAT’**

**‘ONE OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS’**

**‘what? and what the hell is sburb??’**

**‘ITS A GAME’**

**‘LOOK I’LL PROVE TO YOU THAT I KNOW YOU’**

**‘UM’**

**‘DO YOU HAVE DOG EARS STILL OR DID THE GAME TAKE THEM AWAY FROM YOU?’**

**‘AND YOU’RE ALSO A GOD’**

She stared at the screen, mouth agape, he must be some sort of creep on the college grounds that stalks her.

**‘and how would you know that?’**

**‘JESUS, COME ON GIVE ME A PASSWORD AT LEAST’**

**‘SERIOUSLY THIS ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE HARLEY’**

**‘CUT IT OUT’**

**‘ugh!! stop it! youre not making any sense!’**

**‘i have finals tomorrow and i need to study!!’**

**‘WAIT WHAT’**

**‘goodbye!’**

   She blocked the number, she sighed in frustration and went back to studying for her final exams. Final exams were always the worst times for her, sometimes Dave would try and find a way to distract her. Sometimes weird people would try to troll her. But most of all why did it feel like she knew that weird named guy. “Karkat Vantas,” she said out loud, it felt like she had just met up with an old friend when she said his name.

 

* * *

 

   “Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!” Said John’s phone, that’s odd. He normally doesn’t get text messages at this time of day.

**‘Joooooooo’**

**‘oooooooo’**

**‘oooooooo’**

**‘oooooooohn’**

He almost laughed when he thought of how he read it. 8 o’s each, times four. He guessed it’s… 32bit.

**‘hello?’**

**‘Finally! You take forever to answer your phone! You know that right?’**

**‘do i know you?’**

**‘I am hurt!’**

**‘no really.’**

**‘It’s me! Vriska!’**

**‘thats a weird name!’**

**‘Of course it is stupid! I’m a troll’**

**‘ok captain obvious!’**

**‘Wait, not the internet type of troll or whatever you humans call it.’**

**‘mhm, suuuuuuuure’**

**‘I’m not! D:::: <’ **

**‘whatever, i don’t have time for this!’**

**‘Why not?’**

**‘the concept is called “my job” ever heard of it?’**

**‘Nope! Sorry! Whatever it is, it can w8.’**

**‘uh. no!’**

**‘Yes it can.’**

**‘i said no! goodbye!’**

He ended up blocking her. John put it on silent, then stuffed it back into his back pocket and continued his presentation.

 

* * *

 

   Dave had fallen asleep, head in his books, his glasses were sideways on his face. Maybe just a tiny bit of saliva was dripping out of his mouth. Hi ringtone went off, startling Dave in the process, nearly jumped out of his skin. He moved his hands into a defensive position, “who’s there?” He hesitated to realize it was his phone for a while and just sat there arms up. When he was out of his daze he grabbed his phone, oh hey look, it was Jade.

**‘dave!!’**

**‘whoa calm down there harley’**

**‘whats up’**

**‘this guy that i have never met somehow knows my phone number!’**

**‘shit thats not good’**

**‘i know!! and he somehow knows i have dog ears!’**

**‘damn’**

**‘i dont want to switch colleges again’**

**‘i dont either :(‘**

**‘yo dont worry harley’**

**‘did the guy tell you his name’**

**‘yes, he said it was karkat vantas.’**

**‘that is one hell of a name’**

**‘he kept saying something about sburb??’**

**‘...’**

**‘what?’**

**‘remember those dreams’**

**‘...oh my god, dave!’**

**‘i knew something was up’**

**‘does this mean we arent crazy after all???’**

**‘i hope so’**

**‘if not it means we were more crazy than we thought’**

**‘still need more proof though’**

**‘dont worry, im sure we will get a lot of proof!!’**

**‘anyays i need to get back to studying!’**

**‘good luck with that’**

**‘thanks, ttyl dave’**

**‘ <3’ **

**‘ <3’ **

 

* * *

 

   John was up late, thinking. He went through all the memories in his head, watching them, rewinding them, watching them again. All the same, he lead a fairly normal life, maybe a little too normal. Until he met his sister (who he had no idea that she existed until he was 13,) Dave, and then Rose. It went downhill from there, from wind powers to tentacle monsters that tried to take over his friend. But nothing, nothing, had he ever met any so called, "trolls." Yet here is is, laying in his bed at around midnight thinking up things that he thought would never go through his head.

The dreams he once deemed impossible could be true. Could it be true that he was once a god? No, he thought, I doubt it. He heard another ping from his phone, can't be that Vriska girl, he blocked her. Instead, it was Rose.

**'John I need your advice.'**

**'can't sleep either?'**

**'No... Something came up.'**

**'something postponing sleep?**

**'geez rose, I'm starting to worry about your health!'**

**'My health is already bad, why should you worry yourself with my sleeping habits?'**

**'can't i just genuinely worry about you?'**

**'No. In fact you can't ever worry about anyone. Even genuinely.'**

He could hear the snark in her text.

**'Anyways, advice.'**

**'what do you need advice for? i thought you were the advice master!'**

**'This is different.'**

**'This woman claimed to be a troll and apparently we dated?'**

**'whoa'**

**'that seems like a lot to lay down firsthand.'**

**'It is, what should I do? She seems nice but...'**

**'you barely know her, tell me about it.'**

**'So you have spoken to a "troll" yourself?'**

**'yeah, she seemed crazy! she didn't know what my job was!'**

**'Yes because everyone knows about how you singlehandedly made the most brilliant brand of baking product.'**

**'at least it's better than betty crocker!'**

**'Yes I have to admit that, it is pretty good.'**

**'thanks rose <3' **

Wait, did he seriously put a heart there? He mentally slapped himself and threw his phone at the wall but held back from physically doing it.

**'You're welcome.'**

**'can we talk about the rest of this tomorrow? I'm tired and need some sleep.'**

**'Okay, good night John.'**

  And with that he practically fell asleep with his phone in his hands. He had the dreams again, this one was a little different though. He found himself in a large cave, the mouth of the cave seemed to actually look like a mouth with large fangs. He proceeded anyways, he had also noticed he was wearing strange blue clothes. He continued walking until he came up to a cliff, below the cliff was some sort of pedal. The boy of blue jumped down onto it, the pedal started to move forward until it got to a different platform. On that platform was a chest, and people surrounding it, they looked odd. They all had grey skin and different shapes of orange horns, they all had white eyes except one. They didn’t move though, so he just shrugged it off and opened the chest. Once he opened it he reached in to grab a familiar house looking object, but instead of picking it up there was a bright flash and he woke up.


	5. Memories are Remembered

# 4 months later

  


The group had decided that they meet up at Starbucks every Sunday morning to discuss their problems and report if they’ve had any contacts from the Trolls. Not this Sunday though, Dave and Jade weren’t able to make it because of “reasons” that they did not give out to John and Rose. Well, just Rose really. John knew exactly why they “couldn’t make it because of reasons.” But he lied to Rose and said he didn’t know why.

John watched for Rose at the table he was at, he tapped his finger in a pattern nervously. He took a sip from his coffee then set it back down. From time to time he glanced at his watch, but realizing that not much time has passed since he himself had gotten there.

    Finally the door opened and there was a little “ring” coming from the bell. Yep, it was Rose, she walked over to his table and sat down.

“Hey, Rose,” John said with a smile on his face.

“Hello, John. Any word from the ‘Trolls’ lately?” She set down her purse beside her feet and put her car keys on the table.

“Not a peep,” he then looked out the window nervously and noticed how interesting the rain that was falling from the sky was.

Rose raised a brow, “is something bothering you?”

John snapped from his daze to look at her, not making eye contact though, “huh? No, sorry it’s just… I didn’t know it was raining that much.”

“Hmm, I’m not buying it, you have seemed… distant as of late.”

“No! I mean, no.”

“Really now, alright, I’ll take your word for it.”

It stays quiet for a few moments longer, John still was nervous about what he was going to say. His phone then vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out.

**‘hows it going egbert’**

**‘did you seduce her yet’**

**‘nah didnt think so youre not one to seduce’**

**‘remember if you break her heart i break you’**

**‘dave shut up!’**

**‘i still haven’t asked her!’**

**‘chicken’**

**‘you interrupted me! goodbye!’**

“Sorry… It was Dave,” John said as he put his phone on silent.

“What did he want?” Rose inquired.

“Uh… Updates.” He lied.

“Ah.”

John took another sip from his coffee and bit his bottom lip, maybe a little too hard for his own good.  

"John."

"Hm?"

"Your lip is bleeding."

He stopped biting his lip and brought his index finger up to touch it. Then he looked at it, "ah, so it is."

"Alright, something is bothering you, what is it," Rose looked at him with a concerned look on her face. He fidgeted in his seat and cleared his throat a little, he clamped his hands into a fist tightly.

"I- uh, um-" he stammered through his sentences and he could feel the heat rise in his cheeks, "would you uh- wanna go on a..." His voice trailed off.

"A?"

"A-a uh... D-date? I mean like just to the movies, and not in a just friends sort of thing. Unless you want it to be just friends that's a-okay with me. It's just that I think I like you a little more than just friends and was wondering if you thought the- ahhh, I'm just blabbering now. Sorry, now that I think of it maybe you don't feel the same way and I'm just-" Rose cut him off by spurting out into fits of laughter. She laughed at him. Laughed.

His heart sunk a little and he shut himself up, I knew this was a stupid idea... He thought.

"I'm uh... Going to use the restroom so I can uh... Clean my lips..." He sighed and stood from his seat and started walking to the men's room. Rose stopped him when he was about to pass by, by grabbing his upper arm.

He turned back to look at her, "I get it... You don't feel the same way. But that's fine! We can still be friends, right? I mean, I hope I didn't ruin-"

"John," she said calmly once she had composed her laughter, "I didn't say no."

"Then uh... Why did you laugh?"

She paused and smiled at him, "because your rambling was cute," she let go of his arm.

He felt heat rise to his cheeks once again, "so... Is that a yes?" Rose nodded still smiling softly. John smiled in return and rubbed the back of his head. He sat down in his seat once again and realized how comfortable his hands over his head. Yes, good hiding place too.

"John, why are you hiding your face?" She snickered.

"Because my rambling isn't cute, I'm 23. So I'm manly.”

“Oh of course, you are one of the manliest men I have ever met. Even more manly than Hercules.”

John took his hands from his red face, “really?”

Rose laughed and placed her hand over his absentmindedly. She had to admit, his fingers were long and bony, but they were soft nonetheless. John smiled at her, but then paused like he had just remembered something very important.

Rose became worried, “what? What is it?”

“... I… I just remembered some things,” a shiver went down his spine. An image flashed in front of both of their eyes.

 

* * *

 

“Oh man! You mean our parents are here? Are they in danger?” A young boy in blue gasped, he took his hands to the side of his face like from The Scream by Edvard Munch. The girl that was standing in front of him had grey skin and white glowing eyes with dilated, black pupils. The girl spoke in a tongue that no human can say, the words were mixed with whispers. The girl’s real voice behind it had sounded sad, angry, and frustrated. The words burn her throat.

“Lead the way,” they boy in blue said cheerfully, not budging a bit at her appearance. The girl of darkness grabbed his hand and started forward and into the castle that they were in front of.

Up and up and up they went, there were dead bodies all around, the walls and once glistening tiles were now painted in red.

“What happened here? Was it Jack, Rose? Was it?”

The girl pulled up a velvet purple pillow up to her face and groaned in frustration.

“Nice pillow by the way, it goes well with your weird dark skin.”

The girl thanked him, although he couldn’t understand her he still said “you’re welcome.” As they climbed the stairs they saw less dead bodies, the poor chess people didn’t make it that far.

The boy then turned to the girl, about to strike a conversation, "did you know Karkat said we are supposed to get married?"

The girl said something, but he couldn't know what she said.

"Oh! I hope that didn't come off as a proposal! Sorry, I think I might be a little nervous since is technically the fist time we met, and you're speaking in Eldritch so I'm just blabbering. I'll stop now." The boy smiles and they continue on. Once they reach the top of the castle they see two bodies. Presumably their parents, and standing above the bodies was a demon. It had the face of a dog, the body of one of those chess people, and the wings of a crow. It snarled and prepared its sword. They boy and the girl also were ready to fight, but before the boy could attack it was too late. He was stabbed in the chest, the demon pulled out the bloodied sword from his back. The boy's back and chest was now drenched in blood, he fell to his knees and then fell forward. The girl was enraged by this, there was a large explosion and a dual between her and the demon. She ended up losing. There was a hole in her lower abdomen, she was surely dead, and so was the boy.

The vision did not end at that. There was a burst of colors that erupted from the boy, he rose from the ground and the blood faded away from his body. He was alive, not all hope was lost. He looked over at his friend's body and grabbed her headband. He put it on his head, a green screen popped up and over one of his eyes. He started to read what the messages had said and picked up the carcass.he seemed to hesitate for a moment then slowly, he pulled her head up to his head and he kissed her.

The girl had reawakened from the dead, but she was on a different planet.

The vision ended.

 

 

* * *

 

The two jerked their hands away from each others, John bit his quivering lip and Rose was trembling a bit.

"D-did you see that too?" John stammered. Rose simply nodded.

"That was... That seemed so... Real. D-do you think it was real?" He wasn't sure if he should be scared about what he had seen, or frightened for his own mental health.

"I don't know... but the girl, I know was me. That would mean that you were the boy."

"Y-yeah. But I know for sure my dad didn't get killed by some monster demon guy. Do you think we should tell the others?"

"It would be wise, but I think it would be best if we keep it to ourselves for the time being."

 

* * *

 

“You think it’ll work out okay between them?” Dave asked.

“Of course! They flirted with each other all the time without realizing it!” Jade laughed.

"I dunno, I'm just kind of worried John might end up doing something stupid. Like... Get her pregnant."

Jade laughed loudly at that, "oh my god, Dave! You need to stop being over dramatic! And I doubt John would do that."

"Don't I get the right to worry about my sister?"

"Of course you do silly! ... I still think we should tell them." She twisted a ring around her finger nervously.

"We will... Maybe at our next meeting." Jade smiled at Dave.

 

 

* * *

 

# Somewhere in Washington

 

"Any news on where they are yet?"

"None."

A red headed man that looked around 25 or 30 overlooked the next city the crew was about to enter in.

"We need to keep searching, we really need them if we're going to accomplish this task."

One of the members of his group nodded. The man's name was Karkat. Karkat Vantas. And he was going to find his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, yeah, sorry this one took so long. School has been a pain.


End file.
